Conventionally, it was known in the art to provide disc-shaped recording media, so-called compact discs(hereinafter called CD) wherein digitized music information, etc. are optically recorded and these media have been widely used as information transmitting means used only for reproduction.
As to these CD's used only for the reproduction of music information, a plurality of music programs (hereinafter called programs) are successively recorded from inner side to outer side track in an information recording region of the disk, and at the innermost area of the disk, a so-called lead-in area, there is also preset an area called TOC(Table Of Contents) area. In this TOC area, program numbers for identifying each program, recording start positions of each program and the like are predeterminately recorded.
In a conventional reproducing device used only for reproduction, when a CD is placed in the device to reproduce information recorded therein, by reading out the information in the TOC area and storing same at first, the number of programs as well as a recording start position for each program recorded in the CD is recognized. Next, when the reproducing procedures are instructed by the user, the above-mentioned device can execute accesses to desired programs by using the information of the TOC area at high speeds. More specifically, by using the information recorded in the TOC area, the above-mentioned reproduction dedicated device permits carrying out various modes of reproducing such as; a reproduction of any one of programs; or reproductions of a plurality of programs according to an order and the number of times for repeated reproductions instructed by the user; and the like.
By the way, since the above-mentioned CD is used only for reproducing, another type of recording/reproducing device as well as its recording medium which permits the user to freely record music information or the like has been desired to be provided. As one example for the device, a recording/reproducing device employing the magneto-optical disk as the rewritable disk-shaped recording medium.
In order to perform so-called CLV(Constant Linear Velocity) control in this recording/reproducing device using a magneto-optical disk also in recording operation, one mode of the device is suggested, wherein by using signals detected from absolute address parts predeterminately formed on the disk as pit-shaped uneven patterns: a position on the disk is recognized; an access to the unrecorded part of the information recording region on the disk as well as a CLV control at the accessed part is performed; and information can be also recorded in the same signal format that is used in the CD.
Moreover, upon finishing recording of programs, the above-mentioned recording/reproducing device permits the absolute address as information of the recording start position for each program newly recorded in the information recording region in the magneto-optical disk to be recorded in the above-mentioned TOC area in accordance with the program numbers.
By the way, the above-mentioned magneto-optical disk having the capacity of sixty minutes in terms of recording time usually can afford to record about twenty melodies, supposing each recording time of them is about three minutes. In this case, in the recording/reproducing device wherein this magneto-optical disk is employed, the following method is supposed to be applied; wherein reproducing procedures information is stored in memory means of the recording/reproducing device in order to permit the device to automatically perform successive reproductions in accordance with desired reproducing procedures, as is the same function used in conventional reproducing devices used only for reproduction. The above mentioned reproducing procedures information includes that of the program numbers, reproducing orders and reproducing number of times concerning a plurality of desired melodies specified by the user among about twenty programs recorded in the disk.
However, the reproducing procedures information stored in the above-mentioned memory means is reset when the above-mentioned magneto-optical disk is taken out of the recording/reproducing device. The reason is that the same disk is not necessarily placed in repeatedly every time, and the contents of memory stored in the above-mentioned memory means differ in different disks.
Accordingly, a problem arises in that the user has to repeatedly specify the reproducing order, reproducing numer of times, etc. for a program he/she wants to reproduce every time he/she places the disk in the device.